coadjutor bishop; assigning revenues to the see; declaring the archbishop to be subject only to the sovereign and the senate; prohibiting all foreign ecclesiastics who had no licence from the crown; and subjecting all religious orders to the archbishop independently of all foreign jurisdiction. This public act also confirms other anterior edicts, which prohibit the introduction of all papal bulls and other rescripts of the see of Rome without examination of the senate, lest they should contain any matter injurious to the established government. Sir J. H. added, that a noble lord had, at his instance, consulted a distinguished foreign diplomatic character, respecting the authenticity and practical effect of this edict; and that he had declared, that it was authentic, and that it constituted the invariable regulation of the Roman Catholic establishments in the Russian empire; that the usual faculties of institution were obtained from the see of Rome, and the Russian government have an agent resident at Rome, for the expedition of the usual instruments connected with the discipline of the Roman Catholic church. 2. That the nomination of the Roman Catholic bishoprics under the government of Prussia, since the annexation of Silesia, had been made by the king, who also has an agent residing at Rome, for the expedition of the necessary faculties. Professors Busching and Thiebault, in their works, recognise this appointment. In the Frederican code, there is no regulation to this effect, because no dominant religious establishment obtains in the Prussian state. 3. That, in Canada, as is well known, the nomination both of the bishop and his coadjutor, is in the British crown, although the measures consequent to the appoint ments are transacted with the see of Rome, without the ostensibility of an actual nomination. In countries since conquered, for instance St. Domingo, and others, it had been stated that the nomination of the crown was acceded to by the see of Rome. 4. There is no dominent church establishment in the states of America, and the see of Rome, with the implied assent of the government, nominates to the R. C. episcopacy. Six new bishops had been recently appointed, some of the regular and some of the secular clergy-natives of Ireland, France, and other nations 5. It is well known that the emperor Joseph 2. made many alterations in the exterior discipline of the church, in Austria; these regulations had all the force of laws; and the emperor was unquestiona bly supported by the co-operation of the heads of the German church, though many of the regulations were adverse to the see of Rome.* By a decree of the 26th of March, 1782, recourse to Rome was prohibited in many cases which before were admitted, and the introduction of all bulls, briefs, and other rescripts of the see of Rome were subjected to examination, and required to have the royal assent (Exequator Regium) before they were allowed to be promulgated; and to this regulation, the rescripts of doctrine in many instances, as well as those of discipline, were equally subject. All regulations and proceedings from foreign jurisdictions, such as generals of orders, were also prohibited; the faculties of institution to bishoprics were to be examined before they were carried into effect: an exception, however, was made in favour of the Forum Inturnum, in matters purely spiritual. 6. In Tuscany, by several edicts of Leopold 2, between the years 1778 and 1789, regulations were established to the same effect, respecting rescripts from Rome. These were subjected to the same * The late pope, Pius VI, was very adverse to these alterations, and thought it necessary to come in person to Vienna, hoping to prevail upon the emperor to rescind them. At the conference between these illustrious chiefs, the pope having stated his objections, was asked by Joseph, whether he considered the measures in question as matters of the Catholic faith, or as matters of regulation?-To which he answered, that he considered them in the latter view; whereupon the emperor replied, that as he should have yielded to the pope's spiritual supremacy, had they been matters of faith; so he must reserve to himself the exclusive governance in all matters which regarded the internal regulation of his dominions. It is known that the pope was unable to shake Joseph from this ground, and that he soon after quitted Vienna, re infectà.— It must be confessed however, that Joseph' was not candid in his conduct towards the pope, for he certainly, in many instances, went beyond the limits within which he had originally declared to the pope that he should confine himself. examination and licence as those esta- without the ratification and registry of blished in the Austrian dominions. The the court;" and this practice was unibishops were directed to notify all ordina-versally adopted by the supreme courts tions to the government in order to obtain licence; to communicate their triennial reports to government before their transmission to Rome, &c. &c. 7. In the kingdom of Naples the Exequator Regium was also established from a very early period, without which no bulls, briefs, or rescripts from the See of Rome could have currency. In the history of the Exequator Regium, in the Istoria Civile of Pietro Gianone, he cites the various instances of the exercise of this prerogative in Portugal, France, Flanders, Milan, Savoy, Sicily, Venice, Florence, &c. 8. In the Venetian States, regulations were established in 1754, with respect to all rescripts from the See of Rome, subjecting them to the Exequatur. within the kingdom with a relaxation in favour of such cases as fell within the Forum Internum, cases of conscience, &c. --In consequence of these enactments, every bull, brief, faculty, &c. from the See of Rome, was directed to be presented, within a stated time, to one of the courts of parliament, where it was examined, lest it should contain any thing hostile to the privileges of the Gallican church, or the temporal rights of the crown: if not ob jected to, it was circulated of course as a matter of mere ecclesiastical regulation. On these principles the Concordat between Buonaparte and Pius VII, was regulated; and on similar principles a controlling authority has been exercised, at some period or another, in almost every state in Europe, Catholic as well as Protestant, with respect to the introduction of rescripts of the See of Rome. Sir J. H. observed, that his right hon. friend had, with great force, pressed upon the attention of the House, his considera. tions upon the subject, as applying to foreign interference. The Catholic prelates contend they have given the highest security that subjects can give, by taking the oaths of allegiance. It is admitted that none higher can be given by an indi 9. In Spain, by a decree of Charles 3, 1761, all bulls and rescripts whatever were directed to be submitted to the King in order to obtain the Regium Exequatur, lest any prejudice might result from their publication, either to the concordatum, to the laws, customs, or tranquillity of the kingdom, excepting from this presentation only the briefs of the penitentiary of the Internal Forum. The Inquisitor General was also directed not to publish any pontifical bull or brief, unless it were first transmitted to the King: and it was or-vidual; but. from the authorities which dered that no book or paper should be condemned by the Inquisitor General, or by the tribunal of the inquisition, before the defence of those concerned in the same should have been heard. 10. In France, under the old Regime, the nomination to the bishoprics and benefices was secured to the crown, by the concordat between Francis the first and Leo the tenth. The privileges of the ancient Gallican church, ever watchful and jealous of the encroachments of Rome, depended principally upon two maxims: first, that the pope has no authority to order or interfere in any thing whether general or particular, which concerns the civil rights of the kingdom. Secondly, that notwithstanding the pope's supremacy is acknowledged in cases purely spiritual, yet in other respects his power is limited by the decrees of the ancient councils of the realm. have been cited, it appears that almost every state has seen reasons for adopting collateral measures of precaution. It is not the Catholic subject against whom the state seeks to legislate, but against the encroachment of a foreign power, not slow in devising the means, nor inactive (as history will show, at various periods) in carrying them into effect. Upon a former occasion, sir J. H. observed, he had noted how inadequate the existing laws were to provide against any such encroachment. The statute of the 13th of Eliz. c. 2, constituted what has been considered as the only barrier. It enacted, "That any person who shall get from the See of Rome any bull, writing, or instrument, written or printed, containing any thing, matter, or cause whatever," shall be subject to the penalties of high treason. That statute remains still unrepealed; yet instruments from the See of In 1482, the supreme council of Pro-Rome are, in various cases, essential to the vence enacted, that "no letters coming from foreign jurisdictions, though only relating to spirituals, should be executed VOL. XVII, exercise of the Roman Catholic religion, which, in lord Mansfield's construction, is now not merely tolerated, but protected E and established by law. The result is, that the act is, and must be continually violated. The provisions, in any case, are too sanguinary to be enforced in the present times. Whereas, if institutions, similar to those which have been established by the wise policy of other states, were introduced here, in the place of the ineffectual guard of the statute of Eliz. we should obtain rational and practical security from eventual encroachment, in the place of a sweeping prohibition, which defeats itself by its absurd severity. But it will be said-Why this solicitude, at this hour? Where now is Rome? The answer may be made in the words of a Roman proverb-“ Ubi Papa, ibi Roma!" The Roman Catholic prelates of Ireland, loyal and vigilant, were not insensible to the possibility of such a danger. So late as in the year 1794, an alien bishop was sent to Ireland, upon a private mission from Rome, and his mission was remonstrated against by a late Roman Catholic metropolitan prelate. It was not contended that the purpose of the mission had an injurious tendency, further than as it was coupled with an assumption of power which might be occasionally exercised to a mischievous end. We know too that a Roman Catholic metropolitan had expressed his apprehensions to the See of Rome, lest cardinal Erskine, then in London, should appear in Ireland, which might be interpreted, by the adversaries of the Catholics, as a mission to dispense with the newly enacted oath of allegiance. At that period, it is certain that the conduct of the reigning Pontiff was marked by the strongest acts of friendly attention to his Majesty's government, as the various briefs emanating from Rome will abundantly prove; but had it been otherwise, there existed no barrier against encroachment, in Ireland*, but what was to be found in the loyalty of our Catholic fellow subjects +. If the prejudices of the public have been rather increased than allayed, by the appeals of the Catholics themselves, on the subject of the negative power of the crown, the efforts of their old opponents have not in the mean time relaxed, but have thereby been augmented. Sir J. H. could not but refer with great pain to a discourse pronounced in the cathedral church of St. Paul, by a now right reverend prelate, and published, "Jussu Reverendissimi." It is entitled: Concio apud Synodum Cantuariensem, Ede Paulina Habita-IX Kal. Julii 1897. In which is found the following passage: "Verùm dum illi omnes qui extra suæ Ecclesiæ terminos sunt, tanquam hæreticos, suppliciisque deditos sempiternis habeant; dum universum sibi vel in ipsos Reges imperium arrogent; dum palam profiteantur nullam fidem cum hæreticis servandam esse; dum hæc, inquam, talia portenta ab illo Antichristo et profluxisse et adhuc profluere videmus, quanta pericula in nos ingruere arbitramini, si in imperii societatem ullam asciscerentur! Luctuosissima illa quæ majores nostri perpessi sunt, hâc ipsâ origine enata, altiùs animis nostris hærent infixa quàm ut ullo temporis intervallo possint deleri. Ne dicant se mitiores esse hodiè, justiores, humaniores; non jam esse quales eos fuisse nostri memorant. Quamdiu enim Tridentina illa invalescat confessio*, quamdiu tholics without restriction. Mr. Pitt, on the debate on the 25th of March 1805, observed: "I thought that such concessions to his Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects, might have been granted, by an united parliament under such guards and securities for our civil and ecclesiastical constitution, as would entirely remove the danger which many apprehended might arise from so great a departure from the policy of former times, as would render the boon safe to the country, effectual to those who received, innocent to those by whom it was conferred, and conducive to the strength, unanimity, and prosperity of + This subject is treated at some length the empire. Such were my sentiments in sir J. H.'s pamphlet, "The Substance of formerly, such are they now; if, from a Additional Observations, 1806." Mr. concurrence of circumstances, it were exPitt also evidently refers to such restric-pedient now to grant them; and, if by a tions, in his speech on Mr. Fox's motion wish, I could carry such a measure into 1795; those measures were concerted be-effect, I am ready to confess that I see no tween Mr. Pitt and lord Grenville; and rational objection.-Debates, 1805. the known fact affords also a refutation of *It is difficult to conceive what the the assertion that lord Grenville was learned prelate has in view, or what is the pledged to support the clains of the Ca-precise cause of the alarm excited in his *The statute 13th Eliz, does not extend to Ireland. illa agendi, sentiendique norma, ad quam omnia exigant, in integro sit, tamdiu illos tanquam omnis humani pariter, divinique juris hostes, pertimescere, et à curiâ et militiâ arcere necesse est !!!"'* In this short passage, our Catholic fellow-subjects are distinctly charged with entertaining opinions which they have renounced upon their oaths. The first charge indeed is that, of which the nega tive forms no part of their oath for the legislature must have seen that the impu tation might equally have been made against the Established Church, in reference to the condition of all who were not baptized, as inculcated by the 18th article of the Established Church, as well as by the Athanasian Creed. The charges of the right reverend prelate denounce this class of his fellow subjects, amounting to a fourth of the whole population of the empire, as enemies of all laws, divine and mind by this "Tridentina confessio," unless he alludes to the creed or profession of faith of Pius IV. founded upon the council of Trent, which solemnly promises obedience to the Pope-" veram obedientiam spondeo et juro." Catholics have ever disclaimed that they are bound to it beyond spiritual matters :-they have sworn allegiance in temporal or civil matters to the king; and when it was represented to the late Pope Pius VI. (in 1791) by the Roman Catholic archbishops, that a misconstruction of the pontifical oath had excited some discontent in Ireland; the pope, by a rescript dated 23d June, 1791, grants permission to substitute an oath si-human, who as such should be driven from milar to that taken by the archbishop of Mohilow, omitting the words" Hæreticos persequar et impugnabo," and concluding with these words" I will observe all these things the more inviolably, as I am firmly convinced that there is nothing contained in them, which can be contrary to the fidelity I owe to his most serene king of Great Britain and Ireland, and to his successors to the throne; so help me God, and those Holy Gospels of God: this I promise and engage." Such are the words substituted by the Pope Pius VI. Very different are the sentiments of another right rev. prelate. The following advertisement is prefixed to a charge of the lord bishop of Llandaff, delivered to his clergy in June 1805, soon after lord Grenville's motion in parliament, and published, for the first time, on the 1st of June 1808; three days after the second motion of lord Grenville:" A numerous and respectable part of the clergy of my diocese requested me, at the time it was delivered, to publish the charge now submitted to the world. I excused myself from complying with their request, because I considered the Catholic question to have been then settled, at least for a time; and I was unwilling to revive the discussion of a subject, on which I had the misfortune to differ in opinion from a majority in each house of parliament. I have still that misfortune-but looking upon the situation of the empire to be abundantly more hazardous now, than it was three years ago, I have thought it a duty to declare publicly, my approbation of a measure, calculated, I sincerely believe, above all our courts and our armies! a class of which probably the greater proportion of our fleets and armies are composed! what encouragement! But, on this head a few considerations will be offered hereafter. With not less regret must we turn to the sentiments of an hon. and right reve rene prelate, long distinguished by almost a boundless munificence, and not less for a liberality of opinion and action, in other respects, which claims the gratitude of his fellow-citizens. Nevertheless, he unfortunately thinks, "there is some danger, lest, under a misconstrued indulgence to the popish petitions, we should, by an appearance of indifference to our church, give countenance to doctrines and usages which, as sincere Protestants and readers of our bible, we must ever hold to be idolatrous, blasphemous, and sacrilegious."* In this other measures, to support the indepen- Calgarth-Park, 1st June 1808." *The first construction given by lexicographers of the verb arceo, is, to drive away from, agxiw-propulso; the second, to keep off:' Vide Littleton.profanum vulgus-et arceo." "Odi Horace. * It may be asked, what is the opinion of orthodox divines, at the present day, of the solemn service ordained by the church, "at the healing of the king's evil?" This service will be found in Sparrow's Collections of Canons, 1675, and was continued opinion, however, the learned prelate is at issue with the declarations of the legislature; for, assuredly, such men could not be recognised as "good subjects;" for, at every hour of their lives, they would be open to prosecution both at common law and upon the statute: Yet we find their churches protected by law; their priests licensed by law to perform the rites of their religion; penalties assigned for interrupting those rites; and public institutions raised and supported by parliament for the education of their priests, and for the supply of their churches. We may refer to the words of the great lord Mansfield*, in speaking of the "Dissenter's way of worship," so is that of the Catholic-" It is not only exempted from punishment, but rendered innocent and lawful, it is established, it is put under the protectection, and is not merely under the connivance of the law." The Irish Roman-catholic clergy have complained," that, the secret of confession not being acknowledged by law, priestshave been interrogated in the courts, and declared contumacious for not answering, or not revealing it." They also complain," that the freedom of worship is denied to Roman catholic soldiers and sailors, who, for the most part, are compelled to attend the protestant churches, in England, and sometimes in Ireland, notwithstanding the acts of 1791 and 1793." On the subject of confession, and consequent absolution, as tenets of faith and discipline in the R. C. Church, sir J. H. observed, that in no respect did they essentially differ from the ritual of the established church; and that, on a former occasion, he had so stated it; but there was no part of the discipline of the Roman catholic church, that was more industriously misrepresented the only difference, in practice, is, that the catholic is enjoined, and acted upon even in the reign of queen Anne, if not later. The Gospel of St. Mark is first recited; and, upon the words being repeated, "they (the Apostles) shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall recover," the direction is," Here the infirm persons are presented to the king, upon their knees, and the king layeth his hand upon them."-No comment need be made. * Vide Furneaux, page 24, quoted in the memoir of J. F. Dillon, esq. by the council of Trent, to confess at least once a year to a priest; and the form of absolution invariably made use of by the priests of the church of Rome, is that which is also enjoined by the rubric of our church, to be used in the "visitation of the sick;" and likewise in the Irish ritual of the established church, in "The visitation of prisoners." The priest, by the rubric of the established church, is enjoined to move the sick to a special confession. The order of the communion of king Edward 6. requires" such as shall be satisfied with a general confession, not to be offended with them that do use, for their further satisfying, the auricular, or secret confession to the priests; nor those also which think needful for the quietness of their own consciences, particularly to open their sins to the priest, to be offended with them which are satisfied with their humble confession to God, and the general confession of the church." The words of the rubric of the established church, are these: "Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has left power to his church to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in him, of his great mercy, forgive thee thy offences; and by his authority committed to me, I absolve thee from all thy sins, in the name of the Father, &c. The same words are used by Archdea. con Paley, and Dr. Mant, in their "companions for the visitation of the sick," founded on the power imparted by the imposition of hands, at the ordination of priests," Those whose sins thou shalt forgive, &c." In both churches, the condition of absolution is the same, namely contrition for past sins, joined to a firm purpose of amendment; and otherwise the absolution is declared to be nugatory. It is, nevertheless, a prevalent opinion, that, in the R. C. church, absolution is unconditional, or at least, that its effect is taught to be more dependent on the performance of works of imposed penance, than upon a truly contrite state of the mind, and firm resolution of amendment; the best answer to give to those who maintain such an opinion, is, in the words of the compiler, of "the book of prayers, recommended to the use of catholics serv ing in the fleets and armies of Great Britain.' Under the head of a " Preparation for * Printed by Keating, Duke-street, Gros. venor-square, "permissu superiorum." |